Car-door.



No. 657,6!7. Patented Sept. 11, I900. H. FRIES & J. W. MEYER. CAR DOD R.

[Applicatiun filed July 21, 1899.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets8heet l.

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No. 657,617. Patented Sept. ll, I900.

H. PRIES &. J. W. MEYER.

CAR DOOR.

(Applicatiun filed July 27, 1899.)

(No Model.) 3 Sheets$heet 2,

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Patented Sept. ll, I900.

H.. FRIES & .1. w. MEYER.

CAR DOOR.

(Application filed July 27, 1899) (l0 Model.)

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HERMAN FRIES AND JOHN W. MEYER, OF MICHIGAN CITY, INDIANA.

CAR-DOOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 657,617, dated September 1 1, 1900. Application tiled July 27, 1899. $erial No. 725,228. (No model.)

To aLZZ whont it nuty concern;

Be it known that we, HERMAN PRIES and JOHN W. MEYER, citizens of the United States of America, and residents of Michigan City,

county of La Porto, and State of Indiana, have.

invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Doors, of which the following is a specification, and which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

The invention relates to the construction of the door itself, to the manner of hanging it, and to the guide-bracket for bringing its rearward end up to the car-body as the door is closed.

The objects of the invention are to provide for the easy movement of the door in opening and closing, to strengthen the door so as to overcome the common tendency to bow outwardly, and to provide for the guiding of the rearward end of the door up to close proximity with the car-body as the door is closed, as without risk of wedging the parts together so as to prevent freedom of movement in the initial action of opening. All of these several objects relate particularly to the one first namedviz., ease of movement of the door.

The invention consists in the various parts and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully described and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a detail side elevation of the body of the car, showing a door in its open position. Fig. 2 is a detail elevation of the side of the car and of the door, drawn upon a larger scale and showing one of the doorhangers. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a detail of the guide-bracket. Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5, and Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the sectional line 7 7 of Fig. 5.

The side of the car-bodyis designated in the drawings as 10, the door as 11, and the doorjamb as 12. The door is provided with a pair of hangers 14, each of which carries a wheel 15, journaled upon a spindle 16, and antifriction-rollers 17, running upon the spindle. The wheels 15 run upon a track 29, which is in the form of a .Z-rail, one of the flanges of the rail serving as means for attachment to the car-body and the other flange depending so as to overhang a portion of the door 11 and serving as a guide-flange to restrict the outward lateral movement of the door, an L-shaped wear-plate 13 being secured to the door and its lateral extension being adapted for contact with the inner face of the depending flange of the track-rail.

Each of the hangers 14 is provided with an outwardly-projecting lug or bracket 18, and these lugs of the two hangers are connected by means of a rod 19, the ends of which pass through the lugs and are provided with nuts 19. Intermediate of and substantially halfway between the brackets 14 14 there is located a strut 20, fixed in and projecting from the door and forming a bearing for the rod 19, the strut 20 preferably being of greater length than the lugs 18 18, so that it causes the rod to bow outward slightly. By this construction the marked and common tendency of oar-doors to bow outwardly is entirely pre vented, and this is an exceedingly important consideration in view of the fact that such distortion of the door causes it to bind against the guide-flange of the track-rail and thereby prevent its free movement. The free running of the car-door is a matter of great importance, for the reason that the loading and unloading of cars is usually a hurried operation, and if the door does not move freely extreme measures are usually resorted to much to the detriment of the door.

The guide-bracket 21, secured to the side of the car adjacent to the lower rearward corner of the doorway, is also of such form as to contribute to the ease of movement of the door, as, while being of such form as to bring the door snfiiciently close to the body of the car when closed, it does not wedge it thereto, and thus prevent it from being easily opened. This also is a matter of great importance, for the reason that when wedge devices are employed, such as have been in common use, which force the door tightly against the side of the car, great force is required to disengage this wedging device, and as a result a pinch-bar is apt to be used in starting the door, and of course serious abrasion usually results. The bracket 21 has an upstanding guide-lip 22 for preventing the outward swaying of the door when open, and this guide-lip is set a sufficient distance from the side of the car to allow entire freedom of longitudinal movement of the door. The sole of the bracket is formed in two steps, the inner step 23 being lower than the outer step 24. Upon the outer portion of the inner step there is located a block 25, having a beveled face, which is directed backwardly. Upon the lower rear corner of the door there is placed v a metal clip 26, having a downwardly-pro jeeting finger 27, which is adapted to engage the beveled face of the block 25 as the door reaches the closed position, and by the 'coaction of the finger and the block the door is forced toward the side of the car. The invention in this instance resides in so locating the parts named that while the door is forced snfliciently close to the side of the car to ac complish the ends sought by such devices it is not brought into close frictional engagement therewith, and hence this guide mechanism does not in any wise detract from the freedom of movement of the door as it is opened and closed. The usual guide-finger 28 is located upon the door-jamb 12 for bringing the front edge of the door up to the side of the car as it is closed.

We claim as our invention--' In combination, a car-door, hangers for carrying the door, a rod connecting the hangers and rigidly fixed thereto, and a strut located between the hangers and supporting the rod away from the door. 

